Detective’s lawyer attacks policies

The trial of a suspended police detective accused of threatening to harm his estranged wife begins Monday – with Detective Jay Mehring trying to put Spokane Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick’s disciplinary policies on trial.

In court documents, Mehring’s attorney has accused Kirkpatrick of discouraging other officers from coming to Mehring’s defense by threatening to launch internal investigations against them.

Kirkpatrick, in an e-mailed response, said she’ll defend her policies in court during Mehring’s trial.

A hearing last month resulted in an unusual statement from the bench by Spokane County Superior Court Judge Michael Price, who refused to dismiss the felony harassment charge against Mehring but signaled he thinks Kirkpatrick’s actions could have had an “extraordinarily chilling effect” on Mehring’s defense.

The harassment charge is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Mehring is a decorated law enforcement officer who was going through an emotional divorce when he was arrested on March 30, 2007, Price said in his oral comments from the bench.

Mehring’s attorney, Chris Bugbee, a former Spokane County deputy prosecutor, began to receive contacts from other law enforcement officers critical of Spokane police Sgt. Dave Overhoff, a friend of Mehring’s wife, Lisa Mehring, who reported the alleged threat.

One officer who testified during the department’s investigation said “she was informed by Chief Kirkpatrick that if she were to testify as to the veracity of Sgt. Overhoff’s statements … an IA (internal affairs) investigation would commence, and I underlined the word ‘would,’ ” Price noted.

Since then, no other police officers have offered to come to Mehring’s defense, the judge said.

In his remarks, Price raised the question of whether Kirkpatrick’s policy amounts to government misconduct akin to an agency preventing a key witness from testifying.

“Mr. Mehring sits here, by the way, presumed innocent, and yet, has seemingly lost his law enforcement career because of an allegation, not a conviction,” Price said, adding that he’s baffled as to why Mehring was denied paid layoff status. He remains on unpaid layoff.

Price said he’d review Overhoff’s personnel file to determine what happened after he reported the alleged threat on March 26, 2007. Bugbee has filed a motion to depose Overhoff, who has declined so far to be interviewed. Kirkpatrick and other high-ranking police officials have been subpoenaed for the weeklong trial.